APIcon London

APIcon London

Tom was in London for API Con this week – a conference aimed both at app developers and public API providers. A quick show-of-hands at the conference opening indicated that the audience was fairly evenly split between the two categories.

Andrew Seward of Esendex led an illuminating session on productising your API. He explained that developers aren’t interested in your API as something in and of itself; rather, developers are interested in building something with your API that can solve a specific problem and take them from A to B. In other words, market your API as a product with a clear customer function, instead of giving a highly technical description of how it works.

Getty Images was also present, and it was fascinating to hear in some detail how they have leveraged APIs to shift an outdated business model of image rights and distribution into the 21st century. Other sessions included discussions around security, open source and an interactive workshop to explore using Google Glass to transform how people interact with technology. All in all a fascinating display of the growing range of APIs available today in the open market.